What's Happening on the AcaTrack

Long ago, in a place not so far away (Milwaukee), Jerry Pournelle
dismayed an audience of academics attending the annual meeting of the
Science Fiction Research Association.

First, Jerry likened science fiction authors to hunters, going out
into
the woods to bag their prey, bringing it home slung over their
shoulders. Then, he compared science fiction critics and teachers to
parasites, living off those writers.

That view continues today, giving fans a distorted view of
academia.

To fight back, Neil Rest led a wonderful panel on "Fandom for
Academics" at another SFRA meeting, this time in Evanston.

Now, the discussion continues on two Academic Track CHICON Panels.

Neil will be joined by Phyllis and Alex Eisenstein, Leah Zeldes,
Dick
Smith and Diane Blackwood for the panel, "What Academics Can Learn from
the Fans." Then, Diane will shift gear and join Betty Hull and myself
for a parallel panel on "What Fans Can Learn from Academics." Betty and
I are continuing our thoughts from another SFRA moment when we spoke on
"Who's Afraid of the Ph.D's."

Academics are fans, too, it's just that their fandom may spill
over to
main-stream authors: Hemingway, Joyce, even Jane Austen. Many academics
also wear several hats. Some are authors and critics as well as fans,
and the academic track will cover such diverse topics as teaching SF,
the state of criticism, feminism, utopian fiction, and the minority
presence in science fiction literature.

Eric Rabkin, from the University of Michigan, is planning one of
the
most exciting presentations. He will be joined by some of his student
researchers for
"SF Red in Tooth and Claw: the Genre Evolution Project Studies the
Struggles of the American Science Fiction Short Story." For a closer
look at their work in progress, see their website
The Genre Evolution
Project [www].

Additional programming, so far, also includes presentations from
scholars nationwide: